Charcoal Igniting Device

ABSTRACT

A charcoal igniting device comprises a main body having an outer side surface formed with a through hole and attached with a handle formed with a retaining portion. A supporting plate installed in the main body comprises a first and a second plate pivotally connected by at least one hinge. The first plate is a fixed supporting plate fixedly attached to the main body while the second plate is a pivotally movable supporting plate combined at an end thereof away from the hinge with a pulling element, which has an end passing through the through hole and attached with a holding block. The pulling element is pulled and then retained by the retaining portion to lift the movable supporting plate and thus form a platform for supporting charcoal. When the pulling element is released from the retaining portion, the movable supporting plate pivots downwards to discharge the charcoal.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a charcoal igniting device that is safe to use and can conveniently feed ignited charcoal to an apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a charcoal igniting device that is especially suitable for use with an apparatus that uses charcoal as a fuel, such as a barbecue, a stove or other apparatuses having similar structures thereto.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Nowadays, a barbecue party has become a common social activity among family members and friends for recreational purposes or special occasions. However, preparation for a barbecue is usually much more difficult than the barbecue itself. Especially for charcoal ignition, people often spend a lot of time and still fail; let alone lighting a fire directly in a barbecue. To solve this problem, charcoal igniters were developed and are now commercially available. A conventional charcoal igniter essentially comprises a housing mounted therein with a grate for supporting charcoal, and a handle attached to an outer surface of the charcoal igniter to hold and move the charcoal igniter with. The housing is further formed on a lower part thereof with a plurality of vent holes. The charcoal is ignited in the charcoal igniter and then transferred to a barbecue, so that the barbecue is ready to roast and grill, thus give users easier barbecue experience.

According to the conventional charcoal igniter described above, it is required to tilt the entire charcoal igniter in order to pour the incandescent charcoal into the barbecue. This action is not only extremely dangerous to a user, but also a challenge to the user's arm strength. Hence, an improved charcoal igniter is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,807 which comprises a movable grate for supporting charcoal, wherein the movable grate and the charcoal disposed thereon are supported by a spring-loaded supporting bar to facilitate ignition of the charcoal. When it is desired to move the charcoal to a barbecue, a wire extending out of a main body of the charcoal igniter can be pulled, so that two support pegs provided on the charcoal igniter for supporting the grate are triggered to move outwards, thereby allowing the charcoal to press the grate downwards with its own weight and then fall into the barbecue. While the charcoal igniter according to the '807 patent improves the conventional charcoal igniter by reducing the risks associated with pouring hot charcoal therefrom, this patented charcoal igniter has a complicated structure that comes with a high price.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the fact that it is dangerous to pour ignited charcoal from a conventional charcoal igniter installed with a fixed grate, and costly to buy an improved charcoal igniter having a movable grate due to its complicated structure, it is an object of the present invention to provide a charcoal igniting device that has simple components and is safe and convenient to use.

To achieve this end, the present invention provides a charcoal igniting device comprising a main body that has an outer side surface provided with a handle and a retaining portion, wherein the handle is further provided with a heat shield. In addition, the main body is formed with through holes on an upper and lower edge thereof, while a stop is protrudent on an inner side surface of the main body adjacent to a lower end of the handle. Further, a supporting plate is installed in the main body and comprises a first plate and a second plate pivotally connected by at least one hinge. The first plate is fixedly attached to the main body to form a fixed supporting plate, while the second plate combined with the hinge at a first end thereof forms a movable supporting plate, which is further combined at a second end thereof with a pulling element.

In the charcoal igniting device described above, the retaining portion can be provided on the handle or the heat shield. In addition, the pulling element can be a chain while the retaining portion can be a hook engageable with any one of links of the chain. The pulling element can be pulled to lift the movable supporting plate to a nearly horizontal position, and then retained by the retaining portion, thereby forming a platform for supporting charcoal. On disengaging the pulling element (such as a chain) from the retaining portion (such as a hook), the movable supporting plate will pivot downwards automatically because of a weight of the charcoal and release of a pulling force of the pulling element, so that the charcoal falls into a barbecue. Therefore, according to the present invention, a simple assembly of the movable supporting plate, the pulling element and the retaining portion makes it possible for the charcoal to be ignited and discharged into the barbecue more easily, safely and effortlessly than the conventional charcoal igniter allows.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a charcoal igniting device according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention, wherein a pulling element is not connected to a retaining portion;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the charcoal igniting device according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention, wherein a movable supporting plate has been pulled up by the pulling element to a nearly horizontal position;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the charcoal igniting device according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing of a stop attached to the charcoal igniting device according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the charcoal igniting device according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention, wherein the movable supporting plate has pivoted downwards to allow charcoal supported thereon to fall; and

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a charcoal igniting device according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A detailed description of structural features and intended effects of the present invention is given below with reference to the accompanying drawings showing preferred embodiments thereof.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, a charcoal igniting device 1 according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a main body 11, which is a hollow columnar body having a side formed with a through hole 111 near an upper edge thereof, and a plurality of through holes 112 formed on a lower peripheral edge of the main body 11. An L-shaped stop 113 is provided on an inner surface of the side of the main body 11 where the through hole 111 is formed, near a lower edge of the side, as shown in FIG. 4. In addition, a handle 12 and a retaining portion 18 are provided on an outer side surface of the side of the main body 11 where the through hole 111 is formed. While the through hole 111, the retaining portion 18 and the handle 12 are provided on the same side of the main body 11 in this preferred embodiment, the through hole 111, the retaining portion 18 and the handle 12 can be provided on any part of the main body 11 as appropriate. In addition, the retaining portion 18 can be provided on the handle 12 and form a protruding book. Further, a heat shield 19 is provided between the retaining portion 18 and the main body 11 for separating the handle 12 from the main body 1, so as to prevent a user's hand from accidentally touching the main body 11 and getting burned. In another preferred embodiment of the present invention (not shown), the retaining portion 18 is provided on the heat shield 19.

A supporting plate is installed traverse in the main body 11 and located below the stop 113. The supporting plate comprises a first plate, a second plate and at least one hinge 15 pivotally connecting the first and second plates. The first plate is fixedly attached to the main body 11 and forms a fixed supporting plate 13. The second plate is combined at an end thereof with a pulling element 16, which has a first open end attached with a holding block 17 and a second end passing through the through hole 111 on the main body 11 and then combined with the second plate, so that the second plate can pivot on the hinge 15 when the pulling element 16 is pulled, and thus forms a movable supporting plate 14. In this preferred embodiment of the present invention, the pulling element 16 is a chain. In addition, the fixed supporting plate 13 and the movable supporting plate 14 are preferably formed with a plurality of through holes 131 and 141, respectively, as shown in FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 2, in the charcoal igniting device 1 according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention, the holding block 17 can be pulled away from the main body 11 by an external pulling force, so that the movable supporting plate 14 is pulled by the pulling element 16 and therefore pivots upwards about a rotation axis defined by the hinge 15 until the movable supporting plate 14 is halted by the stop 113. Then the pulling element 16 can be combined with and retained by the retaining portion 18, in a manner of, for example, having any one of links of the chain of the pulling element 16 hooked by the hook of the retaining portion 18, so as to allow the movable supporting plate 14 and the fixed supporting plate 13 to form a nearly horizontal platform for supporting charcoal 3.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 5, the charcoal 3 is disposed on the nearly horizontal supporting plates 13, 14 and then ignited from under the main body 11 (such as by an external fire source). Once the charcoal 3 is ignited, a user can hold the handle 12 and move the charcoal igniting device 1 to an opening 41 of a barbecue 4 (or a stove), thereby mounting the charcoal igniting device 1 thereon. Then, the pulling element 16 is disengaged from the retaining portion 18 and released from the external pulling force, so that the movable supporting plate 14 pivots downwards due to a weight of the charcoal 3 and the release of the external pulling force from the pulling element 16. As a result, the charcoal 3 falls into the barbecue 4. In this preferred embodiment, the holding block 17 has a cross-sectional dimension larger than a dimension of the through hole 111 on the main body 11. Therefore, when the holding block 17 is drawn by the pulling element 16 downwards into the main body 11, the holding block 17 will be stuck at the through hole 11 outside the main body 11 and will not fall into the main body 11 with the pulling element 16.

Referring to FIG. 6, a charcoal igniting device 2 according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention has a same structure, same components and a same operation for discharging the charcoal 3 as its counterpart in the first preferred embodiment, except that a retaining portion 28 of the charcoal igniting device 2 is formed directly on a first outer side surface of a main body 21 of the charcoal igniting device 2, while a handle 22 is attached to a second outer side surface of the main body 21, wherein the first and the second outer side surfaces are on opposite sides of the main body 21. It is understood that a through hole 211 for a pulling element 26 to pass through must be formed on the same side as the retaining portion 28 and located above.

The present invention has been described with preferred embodiments thereof and it is understood that the embodiments are not intended to limit the structural features of the present invention. Moreover, as the content disclosed herein should be readily understood and can be implemented by a person skilled in the art, all equivalent changes or modifications which do not depart from the spirit of the present invention are encompassed by the appended claims. 

1. A charcoal igniting device, comprising: a hollow columnar main body; a handle attached to a first outer side surface of the main body; a heat shield provided between the handle and the main body; a plurality of first through holes formed on a lower peripheral edge of the main body; and a supporting plate installed traverse in the main body adjacent to upper edges of the first through holes, wherein the charcoal igniting device is characterized in: the supporting plate comprising a perforated fixed supporting plate and a perforated movable supporting plate connected by at least one hinge, wherein the fixed supporting plate is fixedly attached to a first inner side surface of the main body, a pulling element having a first end connected to an end of the movable supporting plate that is away from the hinge, and a second end extending out of the main body through a second through hole formed on a second outer side surface of the main body near an upper edge thereof, and a retaining portion being provided on a lower part of the second outer side surface of the main body where the second through hole through which the second end of the pulling element extends is formed.
 2. The charcoal igniting device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second end of the pulling element that extends out of the main body is attached with a holding block, whose cross-sectional dimension is larger than a dimension of the second through hole through which the second end of the pulling element extends.
 3. The charcoal igniting device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the retaining portion is a hook while the pulling element is a chain that can be hooked by the hook.
 4. The charcoal igniting device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first outer side surface to which the handle is attached and the second outer side surface on which the retaining portion and the second through hole are provided are on a same side of the main body.
 5. The charcoal igniting device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the retaining portion is provided on the handle.
 6. The charcoal igniting device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first outer side surface to which the handle is attached and the second outer side surface on which the second through hole and the retaining portion are provided are on opposite sides of the main body.
 7. The charcoal igniting device as claimed in claim 6, wherein the retaining portion is located on the second outer side surface below the second through hole.
 8. The charcoal igniting device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a stop provided on a second inner side surface of the main body near a lower end thereof, wherein the second inner side surface is adjacent to the end of the movable supporting plate that is away from the hinge. 